Fox’s Stuart Varney Declared Trump ‘Done’ After the Capitol Attack. 5 Months Later, He Asked Him About 2024.

Most in the media, including pundits at Fox News, condemned the horde of Trump supporters who, egged on by his false claims the 2020 election was stolen, violently ransacked the U.S. Capitol in January.

Even the cringeworthy Trump boosters of Fox News prime time, from Tucker Carlson to Laura Ingraham, expressed some sheepish criticism of Trump in the wake of the events that day.

The harshest condemnation on Fox came courtesy of Fox Business host Stuart Varney.

On Jan. 7, the day after an attack that nearly featured the lynchings of Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi, Varney declared Trump’s political career over and said he “disgraced his office.”

He continued:

The events of Wednesday, January the 6th will be forever linked to the presidency of Donald Trump. It was the last day of the Trump era, and it ended in chaos, and quite frankly disgrace. The president addressed the ‘Save America March.’ He gave a combative speech. ‘We’re going to the Capitol,’ he said. And that’s where the crowd went. The rest is a sorry tale of intimidation and farce. Guns drawn, tear gas, the suspension of the Democratic process. Armed confrontation in the heart of our democracy. It was all downhill for the president.

“Donald Trump’s political future is done,” Varney added. “He cannot come back from this.”

He did. Just a few months later, Trump sat for an interview with none other than Stuart Varney, who apparently had a new perspective on the political future of the former president.

“If you were to run for the presidency in 2024, would you consider Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, as your running mate?” a cheerful Varney asked. Trump spoke at length about who he might pick in 2024, and the pair chatted about Trump potentially running for Congress in 2022.

Varney is, of course, not the only one to pull off a dizzying about-face since on the fate of Trump. Lindsey Graham, after a dramatic declaration on the Senate floor that he was finished with the 45th president, ran back to his arms by February.

Varney took a little while longer, but accepted his fate this week with an interview that treated Jan. 6 with staggering amnesia. The Fox host even forgot to challenge Trump when he floated absurd conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, the very thing that prompted the riot Varney so righteously condemned.

In his segment back on Jan. 7, Varney said it will take an “uphill struggle” to overcome the disgrace of Trump encouraging the Capitol attack. But the bid to rehabilitate Trump’s legacy wasn’t an uphill battle. It was a sprint, carried out first by his most sycophantic boosters in the media, like Tucker Carlson, then by his more fair-weather backers, and finally by the very members of Congress who were targeted by the riotous mob.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!